It is desirable to use reclaimed plastic material in the production of various products, because such recycling has an environmental benefit and may also result in cost reductions where the reclaimed plastic material is less costly than the corresponding virgin material.
Unfortunately, reclaimed plastic material often contains contaminants and impurities that impair its utility for certain products, forcing the producers of those products to either reduce the quantity of reclaimed plastic material used in favor of virgin material, or forego the use of reclaimed plastic material entirely. For example, while plastic bags, such as garbage bags, can be made from plastic sheets formed from reclaimed plastic material, in practice reclaimed plastic material frequently contains impurities in the form of particles of other types of plastic. These particulate impurities will not be mixed into the melted plastic material used to form the bags, but would remain as separate particles embedded in the plastic sheets, which can result in discontinuities leading to openings and leakage, and even tearing, upon stressing of such bags by placing material in them and carrying them.
Such difficulties can be addressed by taking appropriate steps to ensure the purity of the reclaimed plastic material used, but this approach increases the costs associated with recycling.